Administrative Notes 14 June 2003

Hello Again!

Thank you so much for coming by KTJW again this month of June. I should first apologize for being so slow with this last update, but as you can read from the Letters Page this month, I have been phenomenally busy. April and May are kind of the “high season” of my job. But it is not so much the work itself that I do that takes so much time, but rather, all the parties, receptions, and recreational drinking that I have to participate in.

There are a couple of things that I want to address to you this update, and a few changes and requests that I would like to make.

The first is to let you know that some of the chapters which have been old “stand-bys” on this site are being taken down. These chapters were initially put up on this site to be “test read” by the larger karate audience. I got a lot of feedback on each chapter, and comments that helped me edit, change, or refocus the initial writing. Since these chapters are different than the material that is available in my book, I have decided to take them down to 1) avoid any confusion between the two and 2) to encourage those of you who have not to get out and purchase my book if you have enjoyed the site.

The next thing I want to address is slightly related to the first. The sections of this site are the result of many hours of work, editing, and an Herculean effort in writing, organizing, planning, scheming, and public relations work. I am delighted that people have enjoyed this site. I am thrilled when people want to link their sites to this one. That is marvelous stuff. What is not marvelous, however, is when people cut and paste from this site and claim my writing as their own. It's not right, and it's not fair. I have tracked down a couple of such sites and let those guys know that I know what they are up to.

Frankly, I don't mind so much if people quote this site. That is very flattering. What I do request, however, is that if you do quote from this site that you do two things. First, please give me credit for the writing. I don't think that it is a big deal for you to say that I wrote the article or paragraph you want to put on your site. That is what lots of researchers, professors, and professionals much smarter than you and I do. And it is good manners too. The second is that you put a link back to this site on the page that you have quoted material on. That way, readers who read the material that you have researched can click on the link that sends them here, and they can get a “full” picture of what I have written, and not just a quote that you have selected and taken out of the original context. Is that fair? I hope so. I don't think that these are really unreasonable requests. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this matter in detail if you like.

I don't want to give you the impression that there are all kinds of rogue karate sites out on the internet that are plundering KTJW. That is simply not true. I think that Rob Redmond suffers from that more than anyone I have seen in karate-on-line. If I have a hatchet to grind, that man has the fattest axe you have ever seen. Anyway, be kind. Don't steal something and claim it as your own. Just give credit where credit is due.

This month's update has some pretty cool stuff I think. In the Karate Articles section Vince Morris is featured and has been kind enough to send me two (yes, count 'em two!) articles to publish here on this site. Please take some time to read the articles and send your comments on them to me. I will forward them to Vince and we can have some feedback on that too. John Hackett sent me an article too. It too is greatly appreciated. I love getting this stuff. And it is nice for you to not have to read me ramble on and on. For that, you can check on the two new articles in the Life in Japan section of the site.

There are some aesthetic plans to re-vamp the site in the months to come, and I am interested in also soliciting some feedback from visitors and readers. If you are artistically inclined, and have something in mind that you think will help KTJW look a little groovier, that would be just super. Send me your suggestions!

Thank you to all of you guys that send letters, sign the guestbook, and support this site and the book. I really appreciate it, and hope that what is put together on this site serves our communal efforts is supporting good karate training, good teachers, and good discussion.

Until next month, all the best!!

Mark

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